Question: If the sales tax in your city is $7.7\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$71$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${7.7\%} \times {\$71} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $7.7\%$ is equivalent to $7.7 \div 100$ $7.7 \div 100 = 0.077$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.077$ $\times$ $$71$ = $$5.47$ You would pay $$5.47$ in sales tax.